Funky Little Theater Company and The Gallery Below stage Eternal Flamer in first collaborative performance

Two local, diversity-minded arts groups are teaming up this weekend for an immersive production of Eternal Flamer: The Ballad of Jessie Blade, a play by New York City playwrights Tommy Jamerson and Josh Julian. Funky Little Theater Company, the theater responsible for the annual Spectrum: LGBT Play Festival, and The Gallery Below, which consistently showcases queer films, open mics and more, present "Funky Down Below," the first formal collaboration between the two groups.

April 26-28, 8:30 p.m., they’ll transport the audience to “the hottest, gayest nightclub of the 1980s,” following Jessie (played in this production by Alex Abundis). Small-town Minnesotan turned wannabe dancer, Jessie finds himself in a lavish New York City nightclub called Gomorrah, where he meets Madam, a drag queen emcee who helps him navigate his new life of dance, drugs, sex and sabotage.

This fun and campy production has been presented by Funky as a staged reading before, but will now bring all the neon lights and flashy dress of Gomorrah to the Gallery Below. They suggest dressing in your best ‘80s outfit, so this may be one of the rare times you’ll look silly if you aren’t wearing leg warmers and shoulder pads — a golden opportunity to get retro.